At the Barcelona Meetup I had a conversation with Jo Johnston, (Writer on Deck). We discussed the timing of the publication of our blogs. On this trip she published two in one day and decided not to do that again. Readers don’t have the tolerance for more than one post per day. The problem I have is that after visiting a place, I get pulled off on tangents and want to learn more. So I research a little and write about it.

In Radio a cardinal rule is “listener first.” You put aside your tastes and desires to engage your listener. If I were following that rule, I would only publish one blog post a day and each would have a single focus. But the main audience for this blog is the future me. I go back over them to provoke memory. I reread them before revisiting a place, and I refer to them when someone asks me about a place where they are going and I have been. Posts pop out in spurts, often more than one a day. Lisbon sent me off on a couple of tangents. This is one of them. There will probably be another before main Lisbon post.

Manueline is often called Portuguese Gothic, featuring nautical motifs like ropes, knots, anchors, seashells and spheres, especially ropes wound around columns. It is a style that dates from the 16th century, the late Gothic as it slid into the Renaissance. It’s marked by flamboyant carvings around doors, windows and arcades. It is also noted for its asymmetry. It was influenced by Italian and Flemish styles and, most notably, by Moorish arches and windows. It flourished as Portugal was becoming rich from its control of the spice trade in Asia. The style was named after King Manuel I.

While the style originates from the 16th century, I first became familiar with it when I visited Mozambique. An arch leading into the Botanical Garden in Maputo was built in Neo Manueline style. The Cathedral is Art Deco with Manueline decorative touches.

Manuel I commissioned 62 buildings but many of them were destroyed in the earthquake and tsunami of 1755. Some of the notable examples of the form remaining after the temblor are the Belem tower, …

…and the nearby Sao Jerónimos Monastery.

One of the original Manueline buildings, The “Old Church of Our Lady of the Conception,” near Lisbon’s commercial square, collapsed during the earthquake but its façade remained as a remnant. A new church was built behind it. The church is considered a curiosity because the figures on it are mostly, but not entirely, women. Of course, the Virgin Mary but also Queen Leonor, Wife of King Joao II and sister of King Manuel I. She was one of the richest women in Europe. And Simona Godinha, a black woman from the Portuguese African colony of Sao Tome. She was both pious and rich from money made from a sugar plantation worked by enslaved people. She died without heirs so left her money to build churches.

One of the most important Neo Manueline buildings of late 19th century Lisbon is the Rossio Railway Station. In 1890 it became the city’s central station and remained so until 1957.